German cardinal calls on conclave to elect “orthodox” pope

A German cardinal has warned that the Catholic Church faces a split if it fails to exchange the late Pope Francis with an “orthodox” candidate.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller previously served as Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the body charged with upholding Catholic doctrine. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, who held the position himself until he was elevated to the papacy.

Much like Benedict XVI, Müller can be considered to be a conservative or traditionalist inside the Church, although he himself takes issue with such labels.

Speaking to the Times, Cardinal Müller said, “the query shouldn’t be between conservatives and liberals but between orthodoxy and heresy … I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will illuminate the cardinals, because a heretic pope who changes every single day depending on what the mass media is saying can be catastrophic.”

Müller has said that the following pope must neither be liberal, nor conservative, but “orthodox”.

Cardinal Müller was replaced as Prefect in 2017 after he expressed his opposition to Pope Francis’ decision to permit communion for divorcees who had subsequently married non-Catholics. Müller was also critical of the late Pope’s decision to permit blessings for homosexual couples.

He told The Times that he can be urging his fellow cardinals on the conclave to recollect the importance of clear doctrine, noting that Pope Francis’ more inclusive statements could have won him praise from secular media, but added to uncertainty in regards to the actual beliefs of the Catholic Church.

This view was echoed by Brandon Gallaher, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology on the University of Exeter, saying Pope Francis “opened up increasingly ambiguities to permit those that didn’t slot in or couldn’t slot in to be embraced and for the ministers of the Church to accompany them on their journey into God”.

“He was a type of Pope for non-Catholics: hence how the Western media adores him. The difficulty with this vision is that it’s profoundly messy and even at times anti-institutional,” he said.